The M524 Oscilloscope is part the ETC Measuring Lab 3 (EML3) line. The dual-channel USB oscilloscope is compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 interfaces. You can connected it to a computer using standard USB 2.0 cable, and it will be powered through USB, so no external power supply is needed. This makes the M524 scope extremely portable, given its size of just 106 × 163 × 35 mm (excluding connectors and feet). The maximum power consumption of only 2.25W makes it usable with battery-powered notebooks.

The M524 has 120 MHz bandwidth and 8K per channel internal storage. There are six oscilloscopes in the M520 Series, available with 60, 120 or 150 MHz bandwidth and 4K or 8K per channel internal storage. A detailed table of the differences between the six models is found below, so you can compare and choose the one that suits your needs.

All devices of the M520 Oscilloscope Series offer simple and intuitive installation and operation, and they can adapt to any screen resolution from 800 × 600 upwards. They have two vertical channels with 8-bit resolution and offer a deflection factor from 10mV/div to 5V/div in 1-2-5 steps. The device inputs are accessible via BNC connectors which are compatible with standard probes (with minimum of 32 pF compensation range).

Four standard acquisition modes (AUTO, NORMAL, SINGLE, MANUAL) are available. The trigger event is created by a dual-level triggering system equipped with a digital pulse length filter and event counter on each level. The channel A, channel B and external trigger input can be activated as a triggering system source. The threshold of the channel A and channel B triggers is settable for the whole range of the scope screen. The threshold of the external trigger is fixed to about 1.5V and is TTL and CMOS compatible. This sophisticated triggering system allows displaying waveforms with very complicated trigger events (e.g. selected row of the video signal).

M524 Oscilloscope Features

Dual-level triggering system with digital pulse length filter and event counter on each level. This allows displaying of very complicated events.

Virtual storage with size of 63000 samples. This feature allows you to delay data acquisition from the trigger event by a maximum of 63000 samples.

Simple and complex triggering modes. Simple triggering mode is very easy to use; using the complex mode, you can utilize the triggering possibilities to the fullest extent.

Standard triggering features are also supported, such as data acquisition before trigger, triggering from channel A, channel B and external trigger, or setting the trigger threshold of both channels within the whole vertical range of display.

The vertical deflection system is equipped with all standard features, such as AC/DC switch, GND switch or probe input ratio selector (1:1, 1:10, 1:100). The measuring channel inputs withstand the voltage of ±200V with no respect to the selected deflection factor.

A very useful feature of the vertical deflection system is Digital Shielding. When turned on, it removes asynchronous noise from the measured waveform without any influence to the frequency response.

Using the random sampling method is the horizontal deflection system, capable of reaching the equivalent sampling frequency of up to 10GS/s on the M524. It also provides zoom functionality with factors from 10:1 to 1:16. The fastest timebase setting is 500ps/div with zoom factor set to 10:1 or 5ns/div with zoom ratio 1:1. See the tables below for more detailed figures.

M520 Series Oscilloscope Software and Documentation

The standard oscilloscope software, which provides access to all functionality of the device, is available free of charge. The software also configures the scope firmware, so by keeping the software up to date, the scope also is kept up to date. All standard features of modern DSOs (hold acquisition process, hold-off, zoom, etc.) and many more (saving/loading the waveforms for future use, export to clipboard, printing the results together with scope settings) are available. Spectrum analyzer software is the part of basic package. It analyzes the signal on channel A and displays its frequency spectrum.

The included Roll Mode software package will turn the oscilloscope into datalogger with sampling rate from 50S/s to 5Ms/s in USB 2.0, or 50S/s to 250kS/s in USB 1.1. Measurements are written to your hard disk automatically, so the amount of data measured is limited only by your drive's capacity. Measurements are displayed in real time in the Acquisition window; stored data can be viewed with the Roll Mode Viewer application or exported for analysis in third-party applications.

The scope comes with a printed installation guide. A detailed manual is provided on CD. In addition, the software includes tooltip help that can keep you up and running instead of stopping to go back into the manual.

Third-Party Software Support

Use the Model option selector at the bottom of this page to get the Professional version (M524/RM/PRO) which includes an API allowing you to add control functions for the scope in your own software applications. It works in Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP and Vista. It comes with descriptions and examples of all libraries written in Inprise Delphi, Inprise C++ Builder, Visual C++ 6.0, Visual Basic 6.0, C# .NET and Visual Basic .NET.

M520 Series Oscilloscope Specifications

There are six models in the M520 range. This page is for ordering the M524. There are links in the bottom table on this page to the other models and to kits that include probes.

Vertical deflection system

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

No. of divisions

8

No. of pixels per division

32

Deflection factor range

10mV/div to 5V/div in 1-2-5 sequence

Accuracy

±2% of current value + 1 pixel

Resolution

8 bits (0.39%)

Frequency response (-3dB)

DC: 0-60 MHz;AC: 1.2 Hz to 60 MHz

DC: 0-120 MHz;AC: 1.2 Hz to 120 MHz

DC: 0-150 MHz;AC: 1.2 Hz to 150 MHz

Step response rise time

max. 5.8 ns

max. 2.9 ns

max. 2.4 ns

Channel isolation

min. –60 dB

Resistance

1 MΩ +5%, -2%

Input resistanceinaccuracy adjustment

Digital for absolute accuracy ±2% of current voltage + 1 pixel

Capacitance

30 pF ±2pF

Zero setting accuracy

±2% of the screen

Maximum input voltage

±200V at 100 kHz or less

Triggering

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

System type

Dual level

Trigger source for primary level

Selectable Channel A, Channel B or external trigger input

Trigger source for secondary level

Selectable Channel A, Channel B or external trigger input

Threshold setting

Channel A and Channel B on the whole display range. External fixed on about 1.5V

Slope selection

Leading or trailing edge independently on each source

Minimum trigger pulse period

5ns

Minimum trigger pulse length

2.5ns

Maximum voltage onexternal trigger input

–10V to +13V at 20 kHz or less

Adjustments

Digital filter with ability to set the valid pulse length up to 131072*Ts for each level and with counter of valid triggering events settable from 1 to 32768 for each level. HOLD-OFF settable up to 131072*Ts with selectable AUTO mode, to sample proper amount of data before trigger. (Ts – actual real-time sampling period)

Data acquisition system

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

No. of divisions

10

No. of pixels per division

50

40

Mode of operation

Sampling before and after trigger with continual selection of the trigger position

Record length

4096 samples per channel

8192 samples per channel

4096 samples per channel

8192 samples per channel

4096 samples per channel

8192 samples per channel

Time base range in 1:1 mode

10 ns/d to 100 ms/din 1-2-5 sequence

5 ns/d to 100 ms/din 1-2-5 sequence

2 ns/d to 100 ms/din 1-2-5 sequence

Time base range usingdifferent ZOOM modes

1 ns/d to800 ms/d

1 ns/d to1.6 s/d

500 ps/d to800 ms/d

500 ps/d to1.6 s/d

200 ps/d to800 ms/d

200 ps/d to1.6 s/d

Time base accuracy

0.01% to 100ns/d, 0.5% for 50ns/d to 5ns/d

Real-time sampling frequency

1 kHz to 50 MHz

1 kHz to 100 MHz

1 kHz to 200 MHz

Equivalent sampling frequency

1 kHz to 5 GHz

1 kHz to 10 GHz

1 kHz to 20 GHz

Display range with respect to trigger event

4094 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 4096 samples

8190 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 8192 samples

4094 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 4096 samples

8190 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 8192 samples

4094 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 4096 samples

8190 samples before and 63000 samples after eventin length of 8192 samples

Probe compensation generator

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

Output connector

BNC, together with External trigger input

Output impedance

1kΩ to parallel with 10nF and approx. 50Ω serial

Output waveform

Pulse with 1:1 duty cycle

Frequency

1465 Hz

Output voltage (no load)

3.3V ±5%

Power

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

Power source

USB interface via USB cable

Max current

USB1.1: 350 mA, USB2.0: 450 mA

Mechanical characteristics

M521

M522

M523

M524

M525

M526

Size without feet and connectors

165 × 111 × 35 mm

Size with feet and connectors

182 × 111 × 39 mm

Weight

520 g

M520 Series Oscilloscope Models

Use the links in the brief comparison table below if you want to order a different model in the M520 Series. The K52x versions are kits that include two probes and come in a storage/carrrying case. Otherwise, from this page you will get the M524 by itself with no probes.